20231212 CONSOLE MY PEOPLE, CONSOLE THEM
12 December 2023, Tuesday, 2nd Week of Advent
First reading | Isaiah 40:1-11 © |
Consolations from the heart of Jerusalem
‘Console my people, console them’
says your God.
‘Speak to the heart of Jerusalem
and call to her
that her time of service is ended,
that her sin is atoned for,
that she has received from the hand of the Lord
double punishment for all her crimes.’
A voice cries, ‘Prepare in the wilderness
a way for the Lord.
Make a straight highway for our God
across the desert.
Let every valley be filled in,
every mountain and hill be laid low.
Let every cliff become a plain,
and the ridges a valley;
then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
and all mankind shall see it;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
A voice commands, ‘Cry!’
and I answered, ‘What shall I cry?’”
– ‘All flesh is grass
and its beauty like the wild flower’s.
The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on them.
(The grass is without doubt the people.)
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God remains for ever.’
Go up on a high mountain,
joyful messenger to Zion.
Shout with a loud voice,
joyful messenger to Jerusalem.
Shout without fear,
say to the towns of Judah,
‘Here is your God.’
Here is the Lord coming with power,
his arm subduing all things to him.
The prize of his victory is with him,
his trophies all go before him.
He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
gathering lambs in his arms,
holding them against his breast
and leading to their rest the mother ewes.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 95(96):1-3,10-13 © |
Here is our God coming with power.
O sing a new song to the Lord,
sing to the Lord all the earth.
O sing to the Lord, bless his name.
Proclaim his help day by day.
Here is our God coming with power.
Tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the peoples.
Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’
He will judge the peoples in fairness.
Here is our God coming with power.
Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad,
let the sea and all within it thunder praise,
let the land and all it bears rejoice,
all the trees of the wood shout for joy
at the presence of the Lord for he comes,
he comes to rule the earth.
Here is our God coming with power.
With justice he will rule the world,
he will judge the peoples with his truth.
Here is our God coming with power.
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Come, Lord! Do not delay.
Forgive the sins of your people.
Alleluia!
Or: |
Alleluia, alleluia!
The day of the Lord is near;
Look, he comes to save us.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 18:12-14 © |
The one lost sheep gives him more joy than the ninety-nine that did not stray
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’
CONSOLE MY PEOPLE, CONSOLE THEM
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ISAIAH 40:1-11; Ps 96:1-3, 10-13; MATTHEW 18:12-14 ]
This God we worship is truly a God of compassion. This is what the Lord said to Isaiah His people in exile, “Console my people, console them.” He is all powerful and yet gracious and compassionate. God said to the prophet Isaiah, “Go up on a high mountain, joyful messenger to Zion. Shout with a loud voice, joyful messenger to Jerusalem. Shout without fear, say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God.’ Here is the Lord coming with power, his arm subduing all things to him. The prize of his victory is with him, his trophies all go before him.” Indeed, as much as the Lord is almighty in power, He is also almighty in love and mercy. He is portrayed, “like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breast and leading to their rest the mother ewes.”
In the gospel, we have Jesus who showed us the compassion of God in finding the lost sheep. He said, “Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.” Every sheep is important to God, especially those who strayed for one reason or another. God sees every one of us as His children, whether we follow Him or disobey Him. His love for us is like the mother’s love for her children. Regardless of what the children do, the mother cannot stop loving them even if they are ingrates, irresponsible and selfish. The mother in her helplessness can only try to reach out to her incorrigible and wayward children. So, too, God is like our mother and His love is even greater than that of a mother because in Isaiah God said to the Israelites in exile who complained that God had forsaken them, “Can a woman forget her nursing-child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” (Isa 49:15f)
How does the Lord console us? To console us does not mean that He gives us what we want. It does not mean that He comforts by satisfying all our selfish desires. He is not like some parents who, out of weakness, give in to whatever their children ask for. It is the same for those of us who have dogs. Are we the master of the dogs or do we allow the dogs to become our master, determining how we should respond to them? Or as master, should we not train them to respond to us accordingly because we know what is best for them? In the same way too, when God said He will console us, He is not saying that He will pamper us and say “yes” to whatever we ask for in life, even when they destroy us and take away our happiness. Giving in to evil would not be an act of kindness but selfishness.
So the Lord consoles us first by allowing us to exercise our freedom even if that freedom causes us to suffer because that is the only way in which we learn how to exercise authentic freedom. That was why the Lord said to Isaiah, “Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her that her time of service is ended, that her sin is atoned for, that she has received from the hand of the Lord double punishment for all her crimes.” Indeed, even though God allows us to be punished by our sins, the consequences we suffer are not the vindictive action of an angry God but they are acts of His overwhelming mercy for us. God wants to heal us through our suffering and learn through our mistakes so that we can come to realize our folly. “How happy is the one whom God reproves; therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For he wounds, but he binds up; he strikes, but his hands heal.” (Job 5:17f) Hosea also gave a similar message, “Come, let us return to the Lord; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up.” (Hos 6:1)
It takes someone who loves us deeply to allow us to grow through our mistakes and sufferings rather than to take away the pain from us and hinder our purification in love and truth. God has a heart that is strong enough to bear seeing us suffer because He loves us more than He loves Himself. He prefers to grieve for and with us. To the recalcitrant Israelites, the Lord said “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.” (Hos 11:8f)
Through our sufferings and miseries, like the Israelites, we are forced into awakening. This was the case of the Prodigal Son as well. “So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.'” (Lk 15:15-19) In the letter of Hebrews, the author has this same message as well. “Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Heb 12:9-11)
Repentance requires us to put our house in order by giving up our sinful way of life. This is why the prophet invites his people and all of us to repent. “Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord. Make a straight highway for our God across the desert. Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be laid low, let every cliff become a plain, and the ridges a valley.” We need to level down our mountain of pride that makes us think we know better than anyone else. We need to straighten our paths instead of living a crooked, dishonest and selfish life. We need to fill the vacuum of our lives not with things and pleasure but with the love of God and love for our fellowmen. When we live a life of love and truth, a life of compassion and service, then as Isaiah said, “Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all mankind shall see it.” Indeed, it is sin that prevents us from being the glory of God. St Paul wrote, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Repentance therefore requires us to make time for prayer and the Word of God. Again, the prophet was commanded to say, “A voice commands: ‘Cry!’ and I answered, ‘What shall I cry?’ – ‘All flesh is grass and its beauty like the wild flowers. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on them. (The grass is without doubt the people.) The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God remains for ever.'” Everything else on this earth is passing and changing. We cannot cling to the things of this world because they are transient. We cannot hold on to our wealth and status or even health forever. We would have to let God. Living in a world of change, we must all the more hold on to the Word of God which never changes. Only the Word of God is an objective reference point for us to be enlightened on how we should walk in truth and in love. Only God can give us that ultimate peace and joy we long for.
So during this season of Advent, we only need to welcome the Lord into our lives to find true peace and lasting joy. With the psalmist, we sing, “Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad, let the sea and all within it thunder praise, let the land and all it bears rejoice, all the trees of the wood shout for joy at the presence of the Lord for he comes, he comes to rule the earth. With justice he will rule the world, he will judge the peoples with his truth.” He is coming with Power, not to dominate or destroy but with love, mercy and compassion.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment